


a use for muggle artefacts

by dejakyu (dietsoba)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Established Relationship, M/M, Magic, Mentions of Harry Potter, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:08:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24880576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dietsoba/pseuds/dejakyu
Summary: jongdae is tired of people comparing fictional witches to modern day witchcraft
Relationships: Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Junmyeon | Suho
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	a use for muggle artefacts

**Author's Note:**

> A mutual of mine requested I write this very specific prompt for them and, while I wasn't sure if I could even make it work, I wound up writing it in one sitting. Hope you enjoy~

Junmyeon was leaning over Jongdae's counter, head in his hand. He watched Jongdae grind what he called "gobblebeans" into dust with great interest, pushing up his glasses and brushing the hair from his brow so as not to miss anything. He'd been there the entire time Jongdae had been grinding herbs and spices to add to his brew.

"I can't believe you brew potions in a coffee pot," he said with disapproval, frowning at the stainless-steel appliance.

Jongdae sighed and poured the fine, green powder into the coffee filter. Measuring cup in hand, he filled the machine with water before closing the lid adjusting the settings for optimal effectiveness—common cold cures were hard to make, and he wanted to make sure his sick boyfriend recovered soon.

"I already told you, we don't need cauldrons or whatever anymore and we haven't for centuries. Even my mother is considered old-fashioned for using a gas stove," Jongdae explained as he cleaned up the mess.

Junmyeon pouted, sniffling a little. "But you can use one, can't you?"

"I guess, but modern technology just works far better with a little tweaking."

"Aren't there like," Junmyeon gestured vaguely, making the blanket over his shoulder slip, "special instructions you have to follow to make the potion work? Something like stirring counterclockwise after seven stirs clockwise or adding an ingredient when it's been picked on a full moon. In the boo—"

Jongdae held up a hand. "Stop right there," Jongdae interjected immediately. He knew already that Junmyeon was about to bring up Harry Potter once again, for the third time that day, and he was reaching his limit.

As a witch well-adapted to non-magical society, Jongdae had an intense dislike for fiction that depicted witches in ways that gave people wild expectations regarding magic and the magical world. The Harry Potter series was, by and far, his least favourite of the lot. They also happened to be Junmyeon’s absolute favourite books of all time and he was utterly captivated by the world inside them.

His issues with the books were not with the story itself or their author; it was the very world Junmyeon loved. The books and films portrayed witches as if they’d never adapted to modern-day society, which was completely absurd. Witches were, by nature, innovative and constantly changing and affecting their environment; even with old traditions, they did not stay frozen in time for centuries.

Alas, Jongdae was a sap and too in love with Junmyeon to break his magical dreams directly. Despite that, he did try to emphasize how different the real magical world was from the book whenever he could, to the extent that he’d read them all several times himself. Once he’d been exposed and the comparisons began, he showed off his appliances for making potions, click pens that could be used for tricky spell work, and how televisions could be used to scry, among many other things. But none of it stuck.

He thought back to when he was first exposed as a witch due to carelessness on his part. It happened several weeks into their relationship and two weeks before Samhain. The comparisons began almost immediately after.

—

Jongdae carefully placed the candles he’d made the week before, infused with all manner of ingredients to heighten the effects of spells, on top of the power boost he would usually receive on Samhain. He was particularly thorough this year because he had a number of powerful spells he’d been putting off until he had enough power to cast them. And because his grandmother had literally talked his ear off about the long-standing magical tradition of celebrating the holiday.

It was also the only day of the year he ever used old-fashioned witch technology, passed down through centuries.

Jongdae was in the middle of drawing a large pentacle in blood red paint on his bedroom floor—he’d leaned his bed vertically against the wall for space—when he heard the sound of his door unlocking. He froze.

“Jongdae, are you home?” Junmyeon called as he walked into the apartment.

Panic and anxiety flowed through his system and his thoughts were loud in his head. He thought Junmyeon had gone to another conference with his Model UN team, he’d even dropped him off near the school for that express purpose.

No, he had no time to think. He could hear Junmyeon’s shoes fall as he took them off and he leapt up to hide as much of what he could—there was no way he’d be able to explain any of this easily. But by the sound of Junmyeon’s footsteps drawing closer, he would have to.

"There you are Jongdae, how come you didn't say anything?" Junmyeon asked when he appeared in the doorway. His eyes were busy looking at his sweatshirt as he picked at the balls of fuzz that had attached themselves. Jongdae could feel his hands grow clammy with sweat as Junmyeon continued. "Anyway, I know you hate the books but they're really important to me, do you think we could go to Chanyeol's Halloween party as Harry Potter char—," Junmyeon froze, looking around at the scene before him, and then at Jongdae, a million questions in his eyes.

Jongdae closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them, he said, “Please, tell me what you're thinking before I explain." He would let Junmyeon try to work things out while he came up with an explanation of his own.

Junmyeon's brows cursed and his bottom lip stuck out cutely as he thought for what seemed like an eternity. His eyes roved around the room, taking in the candles, the sigils, the half-painted circle, and never lingering long on Jongdae himself.

“Well,” Junmyeon said with a huge breath. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet and crossed his arms. “You’re going to need to spell it out to me, but it seriously looks like you’re trying some kind of magic.”

Jongdae gave him a flat look for the pun, at which Junmyeon laughed, which Jongdae thought was a good sign.

"You would be right," he said, standing up from where he’d been trying to close the blood-infused paint his mother had given him and walked cautiously over to Junmyeon. He nearly sighed with relief when Junmyeon did not back away from him.

“Magic as in modern day witchcraft—which is totally fine I can respect that—or magic magic?" Junmyeon asked. Jongdae didn’t miss the gleam of interest in his eyes.

Jongdae opted for showing versus telling, so he waved a hand in front of Junmyeon's sweater and all of the balls of fluff disappeared. He snapped his fingers and removed all the paint from his own clothes.

Junmyeon's mouth hung open in shock, which was pretty much the reaction Jongdae had been expecting.

"Please say something," Jongdae pleaded when Junmyeon kept silent.

“You’re a wizard?”

Jongdae nearly flinched—of course he’d start with that.

“No, I’m a witch. All of us are witches.”

Junmyeon walked into the room and began examining everything. Jongdae wanted to reach out and stop him—because he really should—but Junmyeon was too important to him that he could keep this hidden for much longer.

“This really is just like the books,” Junmyeon marvelled.

He would just have to endure.

—

By the next day, Junmyeon’s cold was gone and they had both finished packing Jongdae’s car so they could visit Jongdae’s parents and Junmyeon could meet them for the first time. They’d been dating for over a year and Jongdae felt Junmyeon was familiar enough with magic that he could survive meeting his parents and surviving in an all-magical household without freaking out—his parents might be modernized, but they were still more creative with their magic than Jongdae.

When they were both finally seated in the car, Jongdae realized that he had meant to deal with Junmyeon’s Harry Potter fever earlier that week and forgot because of his cold. His parents disliked old-fashioned ideas of witchcraft even more than he did, with all books banned from their house. He could hardly have Junmyeon talking about them all the time. He also had to do it for himself.

Jongdae looked over at Junmyeon, who was typing his parent’s address into Google Maps to check for construction delays. From the look on his face it seemed pretty bad.

“It’ll take an hour longer,” Junmyeon told him. “Can’t we just make the car fly or something?”

Let out a deep breath and steeled himself. 

"Junmyeon, look, I know you love those books possibly more than any other possession you own, but can you please stop with the comparisons between the magic in this world and the magic in the books."

Junmyeon looked taken aback, his brows furrowed, as if asking what brought this on—it was a little sudden considering it had been months and he’d said nothing until now.

"I've told you real witchcraft isn't like it is in your books and it's hard to do magic around you without having them brought up. I don't mind doing magic for you, but those books don't show what magic, or witches, are actually like," he explained.

Junmyeon reached out and placed a hand on Jongdae's arm. "Jongdae," he said gently. 

Jongdae looked up from the steering wheel and into Junmyeon's eyes. "Yes?"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Jongdae tightened his grip. "Because you looked so excited, I didn't want to ruin that for you. It was nice seeing someone find everything I do so interesting, but who also likes me as a person and not just for what I can do. You’re the only person I never considered giving memory tablets to."

Junmyeon looked down, away. "I shouldn't have done it; I know how much you don't like those books."

"But I never explained why."

"True…I'm sorry Jongdae, I'll stop."

Jongdae laughed. "I guess we're both at fault."

"So no flying car?" Junmyeon asked, face drawn in mock disappointment.

Jongdae shoved his shoulder.

“Ow, I was wondering if there was some way of making this thing go faster.”

Jongdae laughed again and fisted Junmyeon’s plaid shirt. He leaned over the console, pulling Junmyeon closer until they were face to face. He saw Junmyeon’s eyes widen in surprise before he closed his own and pressed their lips together. It was a brief, but it was meant only to be an apology and a sign of reconciliation.

"No flying car," Jongdae told him, sitting back in his seat. "But, I can make it so we can slip by the cops and get away with speeding. It's an easy cloaking spell, I just need a few things and a bottle of water.”

Junmyeon gaped. “Why didn’t you say so before?”

“I forgot.”

“Well go do it!”

Jongdae flung open the car door and hurried to his apartment storage room where he collected what he needed. He grabbed an empty spray from a cupboard and stuffed all of the ingredients in with a bit of water and liquid mercury. In minutes he was sprinting from the elevator and over to the car, which he promptly sprayed with the sparkling liquid.

When he sat back down in the driver’s seat, panting, Junmyeon was looking at him with such fondness Jongdae felt his ears go warm.

Before he realized it, Junmyeon was climbing over the console himself and pressing their lips together in a deeper, more passionate kiss. Jongdae wove his hands in Junmyeon’s hair and kissed back with everything he had.

When they broke apart, Junmyeon straightened his clothes. He looked a bit sheepish when he sat down and his face grew redder. He licked his lips in a distracting way before he said, “As much as I love those books, I’ve got an enchanting boyfriend right here that I prefer. You’ve got more charm than Harry ever had, and your magic is much more practical.”

Jongdae flicked him in the shoulder but he couldn’t stifle his laughter at Junmyeon’s puns as he pulled out of the parking garage.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! Yeah I was kind of non-specific about a lot of the magic but my eyes are tired atm and I haven't even read the books in years…
> 
> ** My Twitter [daejakyu](https://twitter.com/daejakyu)  
> ** My [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/daejakyu)


End file.
